“Undergrounding is one of our key mitigations to make a safe and reliable electrical system, and it’s a very important permanent risk reduction measure for us.”

This article addresses tomorrow’s electric affordability. To evaluate the affordability of electric bills for residential customers, quantitatively, we must do a little math. The core idea here is to show the link between the investment necessary to advance the energy transformation and the effect on a household’s electric bills via the mechanisms of utility regulation.

Very fortunately, there are alternative tools available to electric utilities and utility regulation that are more focused on the economic plight of these households with greater potential to make a difference for them.

I have been thinking about persistent myths of affordability. Such as that electric bills in isolation can be unaffordable. Another myth is that low-income households have high electric bills. Many households are unquestionably under great and growing stress. If we aspire to make a difference for them, we ought to better target who they are and reach for the tools in our collective toolboxes at utilities and in utility regulation that can really help.

“If the utilities that own the current assets and their operational experts who understand how the grid works don’t become better educators and storytellers about the technical needs of grid transformation, then they risk future misalignment of business and regulatory models that could negatively impact operations and financial stability.”

“Building on the momentum of COP28, we expect 2024 to be a year where businesses and governments continue to lean in on deploying clean energy technologies. In the U.S., we continue to support siting and permitting reform and the buildout of transmission to support the deployment of clean energy.”

“There are companies that are consistent and dedicated to reliability, and it shows. It comes out in the consistency of the improvement in their performance. That is what we’ve been talking about. You have to keep getting better.”